Happenings

Pedaling Art

Portland Open Studios is a city wide event which occurs over two weekends in October. Close to 100 artists are selected to open their creative work spaces to the general public. Portland Oregon is split in half by the Willamette River. Studios on one side of the river are open the first weekend and those on the other side the following weekend. It is a lot of fun for the participating artists and the public. Many of the visitors are young art students. I have been a participating artist in this event for 3 years.

Portland is considered the biggest bike city in the USA. For the past 3 years Portland Open Studios has partnered with Weir’s Cyclery, a landmark family business in Portland, to promote the arts as well as cycling in the greater Portland area with a contest. To enter the contest you must ride your bike to at least 5 artist’s studios during the event. A drawing is held at the end of the 2 weekend event for a bike.

The winner of the bike then gets to select a favorite Portland Open Studios artist to custom paint the bike. This year the bike was a 1950’s style Bermuda Cruiser. I am proud to have been the selected artist to create a one of a kind ART BIKE.

The winner of the art bike, Dan, along with his wife and two children visited my studio to see the unpainted frame and to talk about the painting of the art bike. During our conversation I found that Dan had a particular interest in the environmental issues surrounding the decrease in the Salmon runs in Oregon. This interest is reflected in my design for the ART BIKE. My goal was to collaborate with Dan to create a unique and very personal piece of art. Weir’s Cyclery moved into a larger building and at the Grand Opening the ART BIKE was officially presented to Dan.

If you are in thePortland area during October, the studios located on the Westside of the river will be open October 14, 15 and the Eastside October 21, 22. Please come visit me and maybe ride your bike to be the winner of the 2007 ART BIKE!

Visit Portland Open Studios web site to see all of the excellent participating artists as well as information regarding the purchase of the event tour guide.

www.portlandopenstudios.com